Masala Peppers

Fancy name yet not difficult to prepare. The combination of ingredients is quiet interesting; at least I have never made any dish with ingredients such as peanuts, coconut and other spices all in one dish. My friend told me that Maharashtrian dishes sometimes have these ingredients. I just tried out whatever I had in my pantry and wah-laa the dish was born. I did not come across this recipe anywhere, if at all, it’s purely a coincidence. My family thoroughly enjoyed it and I took some leftover to work and my co-workers loved it too. So here I am sharing my little experiment which apparently turned out darn good.

Peppers with masala ready to be cooked

Ingredients:
4 bell peppers
4 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp red chili powder or per taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
Pinch of garam masala
Salt per taste
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro
3 small boiled, smashed potatoes

For the stuffing:
1 small onion
3 medium tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
Ginger, about the same amount as garlic
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
1 tbsp coconut, fresh or frozen

Masala Pepper served

Directions:
In a blender grind all the stuffing ingredients, add some water if needed. In a non-stick pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Now add the ground mixture and cook them. Cover with a lid making sure to stir it every now and then for about 5 – 7 mins, then add the potatoes, the spices & salt, mix and cook until the mixture has cooked through and it has thickened. Let it cool. Mix in some chopped cilantro.
Meanwhile, carefully cut the tops of the bell pepper, remove seeds from inside. Fill the peppers with 1/2 the stuffing. In a non-stick wok, add the remaining oil, , add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Carefully place the peppers, pour in about 2 tbsp of water, cover with a lid and let it cook through on a medium flame. Very carefully, place the peppers side ways so that it can brown. In about a minute or so, carefully turn the side of peppers so that all around has that nice brown color. Now add the remaining stuffing to the wok, add some water and make thick sauce by bringing it to a boil. Serve hot with Naan or roti. The stuffing can also be mixed with hot rice. It tastes terrific. BTW, the purple specs you see in the stuffing is purple potatoes.

Masala Peppers ~ served just for you

TIP:
1. Microwave the peanuts for about a minute making sure they don’t burn out. Let it cool and roasted peanut is ready.
2. You can use any color pepper you like – red, green, yellow